Jessica L. Sousa

Senior Policy Analyst

Boston Office

Education

M.S.W. in social work, Boston University; M.P.H. in health service management, Boston University; B.A. in psychology, University of Pennsylvania

Overview

Jessica Sousa (she/her) is a senior policy analyst at the RAND Corporation. Also a public health social worker, her research contributions have focused on telehealth implementation, behavioral health care, and the social determinants of health. She has experience in qualitative data collection and analysis, project management, and direct patient care. Since coming to RAND, Sousa has served as project manager on several complex projects culminating in deliverables submitted to federal sponsors in support of reports to Congress: one to evaluate telementoring activities designed to build the capacity of primary care providers in rural and underserved settings, and another to assess federal investments in health services and primary care research. Her research interests include policies to promote health equity, interventions to target social determinants of health such as racism and poverty, and telehealth policy and implementation.

Sousa holds dual Master's degrees in clinical social work and health policy & management from Boston University and a Bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania.

Research Focus

Selected Publications

Sousa, J.L., Raja, P., Huskamp, H.A., Mehrotra, A., Busch, A.B., Barnett, M.L. and Uscher-Pines, L., "Perspectives of Patients Receiving Telemedicine Services for Opioid Use Disorder Treatment: A Qualitative Analysis of User Experiences," International journal of medical informatics, 2022

Uscher-Pines, L., Sousa, J., Jones, M., Whaley, C., Perrone, C., McCullough, C. and Ober, A.J., "Telehealth Use Among Safety-Net Organizations in California During the COVID-19 Pandemic," JAMA, 2021

Uscher-Pines, L., Parks, A.M., Sousa, J., Raja, P., Mehrotra, A., Huskamp, H.A. and Busch, A.B., "Appropriateness of Telemedicine Versus In-Person Care: A Qualitative Exploration of Psychiatrists’ Decision Making," Psychiatric Services, 2022

Uscher-Pines, L., Sousa, J., Raja, P., Barnett, M., Mehrotra, A., & Huskamp, H.A. , "Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder during COVID-19: Experiences of Clinicians Transitioning to Telemedicine," Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 118, 2020

Uscher-Pines, L., Sousa, J., Raja, P., Mehrotra, A., Barnett, M., & Huskamp, H.A., "Suddenly becoming a ‘virtual doctor’: Experiences of psychiatrists transitioning to telemedicine during the COVID-19 pandemic," Psychiatric Services, 2020

Sousa, J.L., Palimaru, A.I., Ober, A.J., & Uscher-Pines, L. , The Case for a Telemedicine Coordinator: Lessons Learned from the Sustainable Models of Telemedicine in the Safety Net Initiative, (RR-A100-2 ), 2020

McBain, R.K., Sousa, J.L., Rose, A.J., Baxi, S.M., Faherty, L.J., & Fischer, S.H., "Impact of Project ECHO and ECHO-like models of medical tele-education: A systematic review," Journal of General Internal Medicine, 2019

Walter, A. W., Morocho, C., Chassler, D., Sousa, J., De Jesús, D., Longworth-Reed, L., Stewart, E., Guzman, G., Sostre, J., Linsenmeyer, A., & Lundgren, L. , "Evaluating culturally and linguistically integrated care for Latinx adults with mental and substance use disorders," Ethnicity & Health, 2019